George Osborne will offer meagre help to homebuyers, small businesses and
cash-strapped households today as he warns of tough decisions to come.

Against a backdrop of growth downgrades and higher than expected borrowing,
the Chancellor will admit that he has limited room for manoeuvre. He
surprised Cabinet ministers yesterday by squeezing Whitehall budgets by a
further £2.5 billion over the next two years. The money will go on extra
capital spending, to be announced today. But the move was criticised as
being far too little to stimulate an economy teetering on the brink of a
triple-dip recession.